Plating device for knitting machines



Dec. 13, 1938. M. ZIMIC ET AL 2,139,790

PLATING DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed July 16, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l lNV TORS M/Cf/HEL mwc fi/v 7'0/V MA? 0 145% Y BY 4 ATTO NEYS Patented Dec. 13, 1938 Michael Zimie, Forest Hills West, and Anton Miskovsky, Astoria, N. Y.; said Miskovsky assignor to said Zimic Application July 16, 1937, Serial No. 153,914

Claims.

'I'his'invention relates to improvements in the art of knitting and has particular reference to a plating device for knitting machines.

In plating operations as heretofore conducted,

5 it has been the practice to feed two yarns, usually of different colors, to a single guide mounted upon a carrier which reciprocates over the needles of the machineto draw the yarns thereafter as they are fed to the'needles. The two yarns are led through openings in the guide with one yarn longitudinallyspaced from the other at the point of exit from the guide and disposed slightly above the other as the yarns extend from the guide toward the needles in converging relation and in a direction opposite to that of the travel of the guide, so that said yarns will be laid upon the needlesin suchmanner as to obtain the usual plating effect when the needles are operated to form the loops in the knitted fabric. When the movement of the guide is reversed at either end of its reciprocating stroke to initiate the knitting of a succeeding course in the fabric, there occurs an initial slackening in the'tension on the yarns while the carrier starts its move yarns are again tautened by said movement, following which the yarnsare again fed to the needles until the carrier reaches the other extreme of its travel. In the usual'yarn guide employed for this operation, the two yarns pass therethrough and extend toward the needles in close proximity to each other and at the beginningof the reversal of the carrier and while the yarns are slackened, one of them crosses or same relative position to the latter yarn as during the previous movement of the carrier guide in the opposite direction.

One of the major difficulties in plating which has not been completely solved is. the improper feed of the yarns to the needles which results in the formation of loops in a'course being knitted wherein the positions of the yarns become reversed on the needles so that the wrong color of the yarn appears on each surface of the fabric, thus destroying the continuity of color effect. When this occurs, the imperfectly knitted section of the fabric must be removed from the piece when used and this results in considerable loss of material. It has been found in actual practice that this imperfect knitting usually occurs at the beginning of the knitting of a course and will often run through the entire length thereof and sometimes into the followingcourse; and again. 5 the imperfection may start in the middle of a ment in the opposite direction and until the passes-the other in the guide so as to assume the course It is quite difficult to determine the causes of this improper knitting, particularly when it starts at an intermediate point, but it appears that when the yarns are incorrectly fed to the needles at the beginning of a course, this is due to the same becoming twisted one with the other during the time when they are slackened and are altering their relative positions in the guide, so that they are fed to the'needles inreversed position.- When an imperfection starts at an intermediate p oint in a course, itis believed to be due to the fact that the portions of theyarns extending from the guideto the needles and which are tautened at this time, are in such close proximity that the vibrations of the machine imparted to the yarns causethe same to come into contact with each other in advance of the point where they engage the needles, and thereby be come twisted so that the correct'positions'at the needles are reversed.

Whatever may the formation of these imperfections, it has been discovered, in actual practice, that the same may be avoided by employing two separate guides for the yarns andmounting the same so that priorto the commencement of the knitting of each course in a fabric, which occurs when the direction of movement'of'said' guides isaltered, the positions of said guides relative to each other are reversed in order that the yarns will, at all times,

be fed to and en gaged with the needles of the a well known type of propelling mechanismillus trated in fragmentary elevation'insaid figure.

Figure 2 is a view of the yarn carrier similar to that shown in Figure '1 with the relative positions of the guides reversed, aswhen the carrier is being moved to the left as indicated'bythe arrow.

Figure 3 is an away and shown elevational view, partly broken in section, of the opposite side of the yarn carrier from that viewed in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a transverse section of Figure ,3.

Figure 5 is a ho of Figure 1.

on the'line 4-4 rizontal section on the line 5-5 be the underlying-reasons for Figure 6 is a vertical transverse section through the yarn carrier and a portion of its propelling means.

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 showing a difl'erent form of plating device in which a separate yarn carrier is provided for each of the guides, and

Figure 8 is a side'elevation of the carriers as shown in Figure 7, the view indicating the positions of the guides when the carriers are being moved in unison in a right hand direction, as in Figure 1.

In carrying out the invention one method of procedure, as illustrated in Figures 1 to 6, may be to mount two yarn guides I0 and II on a single carrier, generally indicated by the numeral I2, in such manner that when the direction of movement of the carrier is altered at the end of a stroke of its reciprocation, the relative positions of the guides are reversed, as will be noted from an inspection of Figures-1 and- 2, so that one of the guides will always follow the other with respect to their longitudinal disposition, regardless of the direction of movement of the carrier. Thus, as in Figure l,in which the carrier is indicated as traveling to the right, the guide Ill precedes the guide ll so that the yarns l3 and I4 extendingfrom their respective guides will be longitudinally spaced at their point ofiexit from said guides and will then extend toward the needles of the machine, conventionally indicated rier l2 has reachedthe right hand end of its stroke or travel and is ready to make its return movement to the left, as indicated in Figure 2, the propelling means for the carrier also .reverses -its movement and in so doing initially adjusts one member or portion of the carrier l2 which,

carries the guide l0 longitudinally of another member of said carrier which supports the guide H. During this relative movement of the .two members of the carrier the guide I0 is shifted from the position of Figure 1 to that of Figure 2. At the conclusion of this reversal of the relative positions of the guides the propelling means then moves the members of the carrier in unison and the guide ll consequently follows the guide III across the machine to the left in the same manner as when the previous course in the fab-' ric was being knitted. During the reciprocation of the carrier, the two guides l0 and l l are in substantially longitudinal alinement with each other, as best shown in Figure 5, and in order that the change-over or reversal of thepositions may be effected, as progressively indicated-in dotted lines in the latter figure, the two guides are carried by arms I 6 and I1, respectively, of spring metal which allow said guides to be flexed transversely or laterally with respect to their longitudinal line of travel; and to further facilitate the passage of the guides, the vertical edges l8 thereof are beveled, as also best shown in Figure 5, so that when these edges contact each other during'the relative movement of the guide H] the latter will freely pass'the guide I l without being obstructed thereby and the two yarns I3 and M will be maintained out of contact with each'other.

The yarn carrier I2 is slideably mounted upon one of the customary trackways 19 which extend longitudinally of the machine and comprises,

generally, two members 20 and 2|, the latter of intermediate portion of which, is secured at i to the bottom edge of the bar 22 and the ends of said spring engaging the lower edge of said I guide rail so as to exert an upper pressure thereagainst. Intermediate the ends of the bar 22 the same is provided with an upstanding portion 26 having along its upper edge a flange 2'! grooved at 28 to form a guide which is adapted to receive the upper edge of the 'trackway I9. To mount the guide rail 23 on the bar 22, the former has extending therefrom two headed pins 29 which extend through vertical slots 30 in the bar 22 so as to permit of vertical movement of said guide rail and. consequent frictional engagement thereof with the bottom of i the trackway under the influence of the spring 24.

The other member 2| of the carrier, which is movable longitudinally of the. member 20, is in the form of a plate 3| supported upon the bar 22 by-an enlargement 3|a and held in position thereagainst by the headsof the pins :29, said plate having longitudinal slots 32 therein of greater width than the diameter of the pins 29 so as to allow-for the vertical movement thereof when the guide rail 23 is forced downwardly against the tension of thespring 24. and upwardly into engagement with the trackway l9 under the influence of said spring. The length,

of said slots is equal to the extent of the longitudinal movement of the member 2| when it is adjusted back and forth on the member 20 and said pins-act to engage the ends of said slots to limit said movements. I At each end of the plate 3| the same is increased in thickness as indicated at 33 -(Fig. 4) and this enlarged portion is provided with a vertically disposed flange 34 having ,in its lower edge a groove 35. adapted to receive the upper edge of the trackway [9. The upper ends of the flanges 34- at each extremity of theplate 3| extend above the upper edge of, the portion 26 of the member 20 and constitute abutments'which are. adapted to be alternately engaged by the propelling mechanism, presently to be described, which acts to move the member 2| that includes the plate 3! longitudinally and relative to the member 20, and then move the two members of the carrier in unison over the needles of the machine. e

As best shown in Figure 6, the angular support 36 for the yarn guide ll hasit's upper endv secured at 31 to the inner surface of the bar 22, and the lower end of said support has the upper end of the spring arm I! attached thereto.

portion 39 recessed in the rear of the plate 3| of the movable member of the carrier and is attached to said plate by a screw 40 that extends through a vertically disposed slot 4| formed in said portion 39 whereby a vertical adjustmentof An angularsupport 38 for the guide I!) has its upper from an eyelet 43 through a guide slot 44 formed in an enlargement 45 at the lower extremity of thesupport 38, while the yarn |4 extends diagonally downward from the other eyelet 43 directly to the guide H. v

The propelling mechanism for the yarn carrier |2 may be of a conventional type such as used on link and link knitting machines, as disclosed, for instance, in our co-pending application, Serial Number 143,964, filed May 21, 1937. Briefly this mechanism is mounted upon the reciprocating carriage of the machine and includes a beam 46 upon which is mounted the propelling mechanism, generally indicated by the numeral 41. This includes the usual plurality of headed propelling pins 48 only one of .which need be employed in a plating operation since only one yarn carrier is used in the embodiment of the invention being described. In the usual manner, said pin is vertically adjustable so that it can be lowered into an operative position relative to the yarn carrier, as indicated in Figures 1 and 6, and when thus positioned the lower end of the pin is located in the space between the abutments 34 at opposite ends of the movable member 2| of the carrier so as to alternately engage said abutments as the main carriage of the machine is reciprocating. Assuming, as shown in Figure 1, that the yarn carrier has reached the end of its movement in the right hand direction and the main carriage of the machine is about to start its return movement. As this occurs, the pin 48 of the propelling mechanism first moves to the other end of the space between the abutments 34. The left hand abutment 34 is then engaged by said pin and continued movement of the latter in the left hand direction acts to move the member 2| of the carrier in a left hand direction, as shown in Figure 2, until the right hand end of the portion 26 of the member 20 is contacted by the right hand abutment 34. During this movement the member 20 remains stationary due to the pressure of the spring 24 against the rail 23 and the consequent frictional engagement of the trackway 9 created thereby, but as soon as the limit of the left hand movement of the member 2| is reached, the continuing movement of the propelling pin 48 to the left then moves the two members 20 and 2| in unison across the machine. When the member 2| is shifted, as just described, from the position of Figw'e 1 to that of Figure 2, the guide l0 carried by the movable member is shifted therewith so that it will be adjusted to the position of Figure 2 and thus reversed relative to the guide so that the latter will follow the guide It! during the movement of the carrier in the left hand direction, just as it did in the previous movement in the right hand direction.

In the form of device shown in Figures '7 and 8, instead of employing a single carrier for both guides l0 and N, there is provided a separate carrier for each guide mounted on a separate trackway 9 of the machine. Thus the guide ID has its support 38 secured to and vertically adjustable on a carrier 49, while the support 36 of the guide H is likewise secured to a carrier 50. The carrier 49 is provided with spaced abutments similar to the abutments 34, and the carrier 50 is likewise provided with abutments 52. In order that the relative movement between the, two carriers 49, 50 may be effected so as to accomplish the reversal of the relative positions of the guides IO, N such as previously described, the distance bettween the abutments 5| on the carrier 49 is less than that between the abutments 52 on the carrier 50. With this arrangement, when the propelling pins 48, one of which is used for each of the carriers in the present embodiment, are moved to the left, as shown in Figure 8, the pin 48 associated with the carrier 49 engages the left hand abutment 5| of the latter before the [propelling pin associated with the carrier 50 engages its left hand abutment 52 and consequently, when the left hand abutment 5| of the carrier 49 is contacted by the pin 48, said, carrier will be moved to the left and relative to the carrier 50 to shift the guide ID from the position of Figure 8 to a point on the opposite side of the guide When this movement has been completed the left hand abutments 5| and 52 of the two carriers are transversely alined and from this point the two associated propelling pins will move the two carriers in unison across the machine.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knitting machine, a yarn carrier 'comprising two members one of which is supported for longitudinal movements on the other, said members having cooperating means to mount said carrier for reciprocating movements on a trackway, a guide carried by each of said members for feeding separate yarns to the needles of the machine, and means to move the first named member along the other member to alter the positions of said guides relative to each other when the direction of movement of said carrier is changed.

2. In a knitting machine, a yarn carrier comprising two members one of which is supported for longitudinal movements on the other, said members having cooperating means to mount said carrier for reciprocating movements on a trackway, said means including a rail on one of said members, means to maintain a yielding pressure on said rail against said trackway, a guide carried by each of said members for feeding separate yarns to the needles of the machine and arranged thereon so that one guide will follow the other during the reciprocating movements of said car- I rier, and means effective when the direction of movement of said carrier is changed to move one of said members longitudinally of the other member so that the first named guide will again follow said other guide.

3. In a knitting machine, a yarn carrier comprising two members one of which is supported for longitudinal movements on the other, said members having cooperating means to mount said carrier for reciprocating movements on a trackway, a guide carried by each of said members for feeding separate yarns to the needles of the machine, means to mount one of said guides for vertical adjustments on its member, and means operable, when the direction of movement of said carrier is changed, to move the first named member along the other member so as to alter the positions of said guidesrelative to each other.

4. In a knitting machine, a yarn carrier comprising two members one of which is supported for relative longitudinal movements on the other, a rail .on one of said members for mounting the carrier for reciprocating movements on a trackway, means maintaining a yielding pressure on said rail against said trackway, a guide on each member, flexible mountings for said guides extending from said members and permitting the guides to swing laterally relative to the direction of movement of the carrier, said mountings supporting one of said guides in leading relation to the other, and means to move the first named member longitudinally of the other upon a, reversal of the movement of said carrier.

5. Ina knitting machine, a yarn carrier comprising two members one of which is slideable on the other and provided withabutments, and the latter member having means to limit said sliding movement, means movable between said abutments and engageable therewith to initially slide the first named member relative to the other member and thereafter propel said carrier as a. unit in either one of two directions, and yarn guides carried by said members.

MICHAEL. znvnc. ANTON MISKQVSKY.. 

